Dan Hannebery's luckless run with injury has been prolonged after the veteran Saint suffered a calf complaint on Saturday.
Scans have confirmed the ex-Swan will require an extended period on the sidelines after sustaining the setback at training.
Hannebery has battled calf and groin issues throughout the course of his tenure at Moorabbin, having arrived from Sydney ahead of the 2019 season after 10 years and 208 games in the red and white.
The 31-year-old has managed just 15 appearances for the Saints across the past three seasons, with each passing year compounding the midfielder and club's frustrations.
St Kilda football boss David Rath expressed his disappointment in Hannebery facing further weeks in the club's casualty ward.
“This is clearly a disappointing start to the 2022 Season for Dan,” Rath said.
“Given his recent history with soft tissue injuries, Dan has been working closely with the high performance and medical team to slowly build his load and he had been making some promising steps towards a return.
“While this isn’t ideal, we know Dan will approach this next phase of rehabilitation with complete professionalism.
“Our medical team are working through those next steps with Dan, but our primary focus at this moment is on supporting him through this.”
The Saints are currently without Hunter Clark (shoulder), Jack Billings (hamstring), Nick Coffield (knee), Dougal Howard (H&S protocols) and Zak Jones (personal) for their Round 2 clash with Fremantle on Sunday.
Senior coach Brett Ratten is likely to welcome back Howard for next week, while Clark and Billings remain close to a month from their returns.
VIEW: SAINTS' FULL INJURY LIST
Coffield has been ruled out for the entirety of the season after suffering an ACL injury prior to Round 1, while a timeline on Jones' return is unclear.
St Kilda will travel to Perth to face the Dockers on Sunday as they chase their first win of the season.
